The present disclosure is related to protecting against embolism, and more particularly to devices, systems, and methods for the filtration and removal of debris within blood vessels.
Arterial embolism is a sudden interruption of blood flow to an organ or body part due to an embolus, e.g., debris or a clot. During a surgical intervention, such as a cardiac intervention, a vascular intervention, or a coronary intervention, tissue, plaque, and/or other masses may be dislodged due to the intervention, resulting in an embolus. These emboli are capable of traveling far from their origins, migrating to other sites of the vasculature and resulting in potentially life threatening complications. For example, an embolus may travel through the carotid artery and inhibit the flow of blood to the brain, which may result in the death of brain cells, i.e., cause a stroke. A blockage of the carotid arteries is the most common cause of a stroke.